The feeling of having a song stuck in our head without even knowing the title must be familiar to all of us.
Written by: Márk Szolomayer
Google now tries to tackle this problem (too), with its very cleverly named “Hum to Search” function. The formula is fairly easy: you just have to hum or whistle into the phone, and wait for it to identify the song with the help of an algorithm.
No additional applications are required, as Google incorporated the function right into its own search engine. Google uses machine learning algorithms for identifying the audio content out of the melodies stored its database. The system digitizes whistling, humming and forwards it for identification. The better our reproduction of the song stuck in our heads is, the more chance we have for success. If the idea proves to be a success, we shouldn’t be surprised to see it as a separate game.
And if you thought humming is the same in all languages, you couldn’t be more wrong. Google launched the function with limited languages: the algorithm currently understands humming in twenty languages, not including Hungarian unfortunately. However, the company promises to launch the service in more languages in the near future, too, and so we’ll soon be able to hum our favorite Kispál song into our phones if we can’t remember its title.
Finally, I can’t leave out the first thing that popped into my mind when I saw Google’s new idea: I am sure Hum to Search would have been very useful for Al Bundy, too.
Source: ipon
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